Cordyline australis 160 litre

With its tall slender trunk and crowns of strap like leaves, this Iconic native plant surely deserves a better name than Cabbage Tree! Its ability to withstand a wide variety of growing conditions from swamps, streamsides, and coastal lowlands to forest margins has made the cordyline a popular garden plant both here and overseas.

TiKouka grows rapidly in almost any soil type but will do better if watered well during hot dry periods. Insect damage from a native caterpillar in juvenile trees can sometimes spoil the foliage. This is easily controlled with occasional applications of a general insecticide.

Use Cordylines as individual specimens to give height where space is restricted or in groups for dramatic effect in tropical gardens.

Cordylines were an important food source for both Maori and early settlers. The roots and inner stems could be cooked and stored for use when other foods were less abundant. The fleshy growing tips flavor, and smell when cooked, gave rise to its European name. Cabbage Tree.

Click here for our handy Planting guide.